The use of QEMSCAN techniques to characterize entrained matte in platinum furnace slags
Dried concentrates produced by Anglo Americans Platinum business from their mining operations in South Africa are processed in three smelters. The matte produced during primary melting contains most of the value metals, which are further concentrated by converting and refining. Tapped furnace slag, which is granulated in water contains value metals in entrained matte phases and as trace components in slag silicate. Accurate knowledge of the size and composition of the matte sulphides contained in granulated slag, therefore, is of primary importance for the assessment of slag cleaning possibilities and process adjustment. The QEMSCAN, an automated scanning electron microscope with multi-feature software which is traditionally employed for the furnace feed or concentrate characterization, can also be used for granulated slag investigations. Possible determinations include compositional, modal and size analyses of the entrained matte, as well as phase liberation if the slag is to be cleaned by flotation. A method has now been developed to calculate overall matte composition and to relate this to matte size. The new technique was set up by inputting manual scanning electron microscope analysis results into the QEMSCAN SIP (Species Identification Program) files, and tailoring these to overcome the effects of the microscopic matte phase segregation which occurs during slag granulation. The automation of this process allows many matte inclusions to be analysed, thus improving the statistics involved in data interpretation. The new technique can also be adapted for use on slag cleaning furnace and converter slags.
Slag losses Platinum slags QEMSCAN
Yolanda SCHARNECK Lesley ANDREWS
Anglo American Technical Solutions-Research, Johannesburg, South Africa
国际会议
Ninth International Conference on Molten Slags,Fluxes and Salts(第九届国际熔渣、溶剂与熔盐学术会议 MOLTEN12)
北京
英文
1-8
2012-05-27（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）